WEEI/NESN Jimmy Fund Radio-Telethon

Calista had aches and pains in her legs, lower back, and shoulder. In July 2023, she developed a fever which continued for a week, accompanied by fatigue, severe lower back and stomach pain and difficulty lifting her arms. She had lab work done to rule out viruses and infections. Her family took Calista to the emergency room where lab work confirmed acute lymphoblastic leukemia in July of last yea...

Max was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in 2014. His doctors thought he was having recurrent ear infections and then they noticed his stomach had become distended. His pediatrician suggested blood work, which revealed leukemia. · His treatment included chemotherapy, and he is slated to complete treatment in September. · Max enjoys lacrosse, soccer, video games, skiing and sailing, and...

Sarah Laffey, 27, neuroblastoma, Charlestown ·       In 2015, Sarah’s right eye swelled shut and she went to the hospital in Colorado, where she was living at the time. She was having lower back pain as well so the doctors did a CT scan, which revealed neuroblastoma. ·       Her treatment has included chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and radiation. She has had several remissions and relapses and is cu...

Nick Pivetta speaks on how much the Jimmy Fund means to the Red Sox players and staff, and more!

  Kristen Van de Geer was living in Alaska, where her husband was stationed in the Coast Guard, and was experiencing stomach pains. As a teenager, she was diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome or IBS, but with a family history of colon cancer and her mother’s passing in 2017 from gallbladder cancer, she wanted to be sure that nothing else was wrong. For 5 years, she was given different reasons f...

Sponsor Find Mass Money.gov's representative Deb Goldberg states how much the Jimmy Fund means to her and her collogues.  

Following a typical, fun night out with friends Ryan woke up the next morning with severe stomach pains. He went to urgent care the same morning where scans revealed several masses in his stomach. Additional biopsies confirmed that Ryan had Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Tumor or DSRCT, a type of sarcoma that forms in the body’s connective tissue. ·       This past November, Ryan started his treatm...

He talks about his family and how important it is for him to keep everyone happy. Also, his goals and a season outlook for the Boston Red Sox. 

· Cecilia was diagnosed with optical pathways glioma in November 2023. Her mom had noticed that one of her eyes was moving differently than the other eye. Her pediatrician sent her to the hospital where doctors discovered a tumor in her eye.  · Cecilia’s treatment has included chemotherapy and surgery.  · Her mom, April, homeschools Cecilia and her three siblings, Xavier (9), Ricky (6) and Felix (...

Before cancer touched Robb, it impacted his family when both his mother and father were diagnosed with the disease. In 2013, Robb’s mother was diagnosed with T-Cell Lymphoma and treated at Dana-Farber, by Dr. Philippe Armand, before passing gracefully in 2017. Three months later, Robb’s father was diagnosed with bladder cancer and began treatment with Dr. Brad McGregor at Dana-Farber as well.  · R...

Nicole Olivera:  ? 7 Years worked for Flynn Applebee’s  ? General Manager of Westfield, MA Applebee’s  ? Store raised $3100 for Jimmy Fund  ? In 2000, my grandmother was diagnosed with lymphoma. She was treated at St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Brighton and at some point the Hematology-Oncology Department at Dana Farber took over. She received chemotherapy and radiation and at the end of her treatmen...

In January 2018, at 8 months old while living in Puerto Rico, Lia suddenly lost movement and sensation from her hips down. She began treatment in Puerto Rico, but their experience wasn't the best, and one of the doctors told Lia’s mom that her tumor was very rare. Her mom conducted research and learned that Dana-Farber was one of the best places to be treated.  Lia is in a clinical trial for the s...

Phaedra was 14 years old and sitting in her high school nurse’s office. The nurse noticed her pupils were dilated different sizes and called Phaedra’s mom, recommending she get checked out by a doctor. At the hospital, it was discovered that they had a benign tumor, which was promptly resected. Scans a few years later at 17 indicated that there were no signs of the cancer coming back.  Dr. Kimberl...

Jenn Perry discovered her breast cancer like many women do: finding a lump. She had a biopsy which confirmed a tumor. But Jenn is not like most breast cancer patients and survivors. Jenn has an inherited genetic syndrome known as Li-Fraumeni Syndrome (LFS).  When Jenn was treated for breast cancer, she didn’t know what LFS was. She just knew there were a number of relatives in her family who had c...

 Kevin M. Haigis, PhD, joined Dana-Farber as Chief Scientific Officer in 2020. Prior to assuming this role, Dr. Haigis was Director of Cancer Genetics at Beth Israel Deaconess Cancer Center. Dr. Haigis received his PhD in genetics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and did post-doctoral work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he was a Robert Black Fellow of the Damon Runyon...

Two miles there and two miles back. That’s the distance John Warner would walk from his Back Bay home to Dana-Farber to keep himself in shape while in treatment for renal cell carcinoma, or kidney cancer. John was diagnosed in the winter of 2021. John experienced blood in his urine which led to a scan at his physical. That scan revealed a tumor between one of his kidneys and ureters that was promp...

 Craig Bunnell, MD, MPH, MBA, is the Morse Family Chief Medical Officer of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, an NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center and Harvard Medical School-affiliated teaching hospital. In this role, Dr. Bunnell oversees adult and pediatric clinical services at Dana-Farber. Under his leadership, the Institute has become a leader in implementing technology to enhance patie...

 Dr. Jänne received his MD and PhD from the University of Pennsylvania in 1996. He completed postgraduate training in internal medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital and in medical oncology at DFCI in 2001. He is the Senior Vice President for Translational Medicine and the Scientific Director of the Belfer Center for Applied Cancer Science. His main research interests include studying the therap...

 In June 2018, Gloria was playing golf when she realized something was wrong. Her primary care doctor was alarmed when Gloria asked to bump up her physical and arranged for an immediate appointment and blood tests, which revealed she had Acute lymphocytic leukemia.  · Referred to Dana-Farber by her son, a physician, Gloria began a grueling chemotherapy regimen, sometimes undergoing treatment for 2...

The Dubowik household came down with the flu. While everyone else recovered, Evelyn got worse and had “bizarre” bruising. Her mother took her to the emergency room for difficulty breathing. After some lab work, doctors discovered she had cancer. · Evelyn is in a two-year treatment plan and went from “standard risk” to “high risk” when she didn’t hit remission when she was supposed to. This meant g...

Nine years ago, Joel was diagnosed with prostate cancer at his annual wellness exam while living in Connecticut; his best friend was his urologist at the time. He began making regular visits to Boston to get treated at Dana-Farber. Dr. Mark Pomerantz is a medical oncologist and Clinical Director for the Lank Center for Genitourinary Oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Dr. Pomerantz received...

Paul Mossberg, 58, esophageal cancer, Brookline, with Melissa Levin , MSW, LICSW, Senior Clinical Social Worker and Programmatic Specialist for the Neuro-Inclusive Oncology Care and Empowerment Program, Dana-Farber.

  Dr. Meyerhardt is the Chief Clinical Officer for Dana-Farber and Co-Director of the Colon and Rectal Cancer Center as a medical oncologist specializing in cancers in the GI tract. He is also the Douglas Gray Woodruff Chair in Colorectal Cancer Research and a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.       Dr. Meyerhardt received his MD from Yale School of Medicine in 1997. He completed a...

  Anne Gross, PhD, RN, FAAN, is senior vice president for patient care services and chief nursing officer. Dr. Gross is responsible for adult and pediatric nursing practice across all sites of care at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, The Phyllis F. Cantor Center for Research in Nursing and Patient Care Services, and the Center for Clinical and Professional Development. She also oversees a variety of...

Lisa Scherber talks about what the first day of the Jimmy Fund Telethon has been like so far and the stories that have touched her the most.